Kolkata Durga Puga to bring in fashion designers

Agnimitra Paul is one of the designers who will design for Kolkata's upcoming Durga Puga - Agnimitra Paul- FacebookThe Durga Puga will run in Kolkata from September 26 to September 30 and is one of the most important religious events of the year. This year, an array of big budget puja organisers are pulling in acclaimed fashion designers to design the costumes for the event to be worn by a representation of the goddess Durga among other divinities.

One of the designers chosen is Tejas Gandhi who will design the Samaj Sebi Sangha Puja deity’s costume. Ghandi said about the project: “My costume will be a perfect blend of purity of nature and the richness of life and in sync with Sobujer Obhijan (quest for green) theme of the puja this year." In this way religion and fashion will mix for the sacred event. Ghandi will also design the costumes for Kartik, Ganesh, Lakshmi, and Saraswati, as well as for the demon Mahishasur.

The designer Sharbari Datta has been chosen to design for the Lala Bagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja, one of the newer events as part of the festival. Sharbari said: "The theme of the puja is Shunya (void)" and this will be reflected in the designs themselves.

Agnimitra Paul is designing for the Santosh Mitra Square Puja and described her design for Durga: “The saree of Goddess Durga is made of gold with zari work embossed in between. I sketched the entire design and now it is being given shape by a reputed jewellery brand.” This promises to be a major draw for crowds as well as a fashion moment. When asked about whether using fashion designers to design for a religious festival was in keeping with the tradition, Paul said “In fact we are not breaking from tradition, but making the dresses more appealing, sartorially more elegant in an understated manner. Each… dress will be different from the other in terms of colour but I will heavily draw from the Sabeki (traditional) concept.”